We were lucky to catch up with Michael Riso recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My wife Nancy had been living a normal life practicing yoga, meditating, eating a healthy vegetarian diet, and listening with her heart to the challenges others faced. In late 2024 she was diagnosed with ALS, known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. If you’re not familiar with it, it slowly took away her ability to remember many things, walk, use her hands, swallow, and ultimately speak. In May of 2025 after facing many challenges and watching her slowly lose her ability to function, I was with her the moment she left this life and went on to spiritual realms.

In the midst of this I’d been diagnosed with a rare cancer, mesothelioma a few months before Nancy’s ALS diagnosis. Watching her suffer and dealing with my own cancer woke me up to the fact that we’re not here on Earth forever, and I should make the best use of my time.

Since I’d been meditating for 25 years, and understood the value of selfless service, I sensed I should write a book that would serve others in a way that took away some of their suffering, anxiety, and struggles as they attempt to live in our chaotic world. Thus, Finding Joy in Daily Living was born. One of the most powerful messages you’ll discover is embracing the things we can control, and letting go of those we cannot.

I felt confident in sharing my message, since shortly after Nancy’s passing I unexpectedly began living from my intuition, instead of from my mind. I remember when Nancy once said to me, “Michael, I don’t think.” What she meant was that she lived from the higher place of knowing, instead of from her mind which is fallible, and prone to mistakes. Nancy was NEVER wrong when she functioned from her intuition.

My days became filled with a constant knowing she’d demonstrated to me for over 20 years that previously I couldn’t understand from my mind’s limited perception. I felt such peace, and observed how anxiety, worry, rushing, and insecurity vanished. I no longer had the need to control things, as life flowed from moment to moment. When this peace remained with me as weeks passed, I knew I needed to share it with others.

We all have varied knowledge we’ve accumulated during our lifetime. The things I’ll share with you I’ve learned gradually over time, sometimes through intense suffering. Once I started to more deeply observe how others were suffering, I then had the challenge of getting the message out to the world, irrespective of what part of the globe they lived on.

Because I’m financially sound, I didn’t need to focus on earning income from book sales. From a stroke of grace, I received an email from Jack Canfield (co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series) and his marketing and seminar partner Steve Harrison. Since Steve had helped Jack sell over 500 million books to date, I knew this was the answer to getting the word out and influencing many lives. They offered an intense coaching seminar to a limited group of authors, and I will be attending via Zoom on March 24th and 25th.

Many other coaches are trying to guide others in self-improvement and gaining more control in their lives, when the reality is that the only thing we control is our decisions/choices. I guide others on becoming self-reliant, so they realize they have far more power than they might believe they have. Once they understand and apply this truth in their lives, life becomes much simpler and easier. The core of what I communicate is spread out over seventy-two individual short chapters in Finding Joy in Daily Living. As I share inside: “Either you believe in God for everything, or you believe in Him for nothing.”

The book started out with the title: Fulfilling Your Life from A to Z. Each chapter would begin with single words beginning with the letters A through Z. For example A-Acceptance, B-Belief, C-Compassion, D-Direction and so on. Once I’d chosen the most powerful words representing all 26 letters, I realized there were many important subjects that were being left out. So the title became: Finding Joy in Daily Living: 72 simple ways to create lasting peace.

I like to think the words inside Finding Joy in Daily Living will carry some weight in shaping lives. But they have value only when practically applied then leading to living a more conscious, joy-filled life. I recommend people read each short chapter slowly trying to absorb even the most minute aspect. This works best when finding a quiet place to absorb the principles. If readers rush through them, viewing them as just words on a page, they may miss the deeper meanings behind them. Each title is written to help others develop a greater awareness in how they see the world and their relation to it. When this happens, they’ll start experiencing more peace from one moment to the next. Chaos will begin to dissipate, becoming the exception rather than the rule.

Michael, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I feel much of what this question asks for is answered in the first question. But I will add, I was born in Buffalo, NY in 1960. After working as a golf shop owner at age 29, and now a professional golf coach at age 65, I decided to write full time beginning at the end of 2026.

The services I will provide with writing are any subject that initiates the desire in others to question aspects of their lives they’d like to change. It is my heartfelt hope that my simple communication style with help them do this. Because I live the seventy-two principles in my book, I feel well qualified to guide others.

I most want readers to know that I want nothing except the best for all of humanity. I don’t need praise, gifts, fame, or a pat on the back. I’m just following the path that feels to me like this is my calling, much like Gandhi or Albert Schweitzer followed theirs.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Since I have no reputation as an author, I will answer related to my golf teaching. I keep things simple, and people like that. I’m a man of my word. I’m consistent in how I treat people which is with honesty and dignity. My nearly perfect 5-star Google reviews speak to that.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When my wife Nancy was unable to walk years before her ALS diagnosis, I stopped teaching so I could caretaker her in our home. When we were both taken to the hospital after I had collapsed with severe cramping, and I was then diagnosed with mesothelioma spending 12 days in the hospital following three surgeries, I knew things had to change. I then hired full time caretakers 24/7 at a cost of over $18,000 per month. Fortunately, Nancy had a trust that allowed us to pay the caretakers. I was diagnosed in April of 2024, and was back teaching golf following surgery in late May. My few thousand dollars a month income barely made a dent. Due to the challenges of finding quality caretakers, I needed to fill in over 1000 hours from June of 2024 until Nancy’s death on May 15, 2025.

Contact Info:

• Website: fulfillingyourlife.com and mikerisogolf.com